Avgolemono Soup…Greek Chicken Soup with Lemon

Avgolemono soup is the classic Greek chicken penicillin. It is a heavenly, velvety soup with a savory chicken broth, tart lemons and egg yolks. The combination creates a smooth and comforting soup perfect for a new twist on the classic chicken soup.

See there is a perfect spot right up there for my new delicious Greek chicken soup, Avgolemono. Avgolemono literally means egg-lemon. And that is precisely what this soup is. A simple concoction of flavors that is comfort food and healthy food all in one. All that lemony and chicken goodness soothes the tummy and the sniffles.

I first had this Avgolemono soup at a local Greek restaurant that I frequently grabbed salads and gyros from. One day, I wasn’t feeling all that hot and ordered their signature Greek chicken soup option. In front of me, appeared a beautiful bowl overflowing with a smooth yellow soup that had soothing aromas emanating from it. I inhaled the soup in a few minutes, burning my tongue and simultaneously clearing out my sniffles.

I happened to find a recipe of this Avgolemono soup in this month’s Cooks Illustrated, aka my favorite cooking magazine ever! In there they showed the science of how to make a silky and velvety soup without ending up with a gummy overly tart paste. (yuck)

Characteristically Avgolemono is a broth thickened with egg yolks with a few tender pieces of chicken and perfectly cooked rice grains interlaced. The end result is a silky soup with a deliciously refreshing lemony finish. The perfect end all for colds, tummy aches and general blues.

The Technique

Avgolemono soup has a unique texture due to two important thickening agents. Egg yolks and rice. There are however just a few basics of this soup that need to be done right in order to achieve soup greatness. And while they are particular they are also ridiculously simple.

The Broth: I prefer to use a rich broth for the Avgolemono soup. The chicken flavor will really enhance the heartiness of the soup without making it heavy. I have made it with both homemade chicken broth and store-bought and have been quite happy with the results. Just make sure you buy a brand you trust that is both flavorful and light on the sodium. I have nothing against salt…but I like to control my salt in my soup thank you very much. Also, feel free to use a nice vegetarian stock or broth of your liking if you would like to make this a vegetarian option.

The Lemons: Avgolemono soup’s unique flavor profile also comes from lemons. However, I took a hint from the fine people over at Cooks Illustrated and decided to infuse that lemony flavor into the broth itself by sweating out some lemon peels along with some onions. The result was an extremely flavorful and deep taste that came through in all different notes. In the end, we also finish off the soup with a hefty amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I do draw the line with that bottled stuff. It NEVER tastes right.
And while it may do in a pinch when you need some extra tartness elsewhere, it will not fly in this soup.

Rice or Orzo Pasta: Some recipes call for orzo, the rice shaped pasta, but I preferred the natural thickening agents within rice instead of the pasta starch which could make this soup gummy. Without getting too scientific, rice produces a natural thickening agent that actually changes the way liquids bond with it. So therefore you are changing the structure of the soup and making it thicker. I find that going with pasta would definitely make it a bit more gummy.

Eggs: In culinary school, we learned about several different thickening agents. One of which was egg yolks, it not only acts as a thickener but also as an emulsifier (think of it in dressings like Caesar dressing.). I was never a fan off eggs in soup, because it took on a slightly eggier taste which was not to my liking. Funny enough, while the yolk certainly has a stronger flavor profile, it is the egg white that carries an acid within it that makes it smell more, well, eggy. So once again the people at Cooks Illustrated decided that instead of adding all whole eggs, they would split them and add 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks. It resulted in a velvety soup with no eggy smell. That being said, it is quite easy to end up with scrambled eggs instead of a smooth soup if you do not treat the eggs correctly. When eggs are added to heat they will immediately start to solidify. In an attempt to prevent this from happening in a scrambled egg type of matter we temper our eggs. All that means is we pour in a good amount of the hot soup into the eggs ladle by ladle which simultaneously whisking the eggs. This brings the eggs up to temperature slowly and so they do not experience the initial shock and scramble. Science folks.

Chicken: Now this part I believe is up to personal preference. I have made this soup MANY times already. And while classically it is made with torn chicken pieces, I actually liked it more without the chicken. Whereas the hubby liked it with the chicken for the extra protein boost. Honestly, it is entirely up to you.

Thickening the Soup: While we may have talked a great deal about thickening agents in this soup there is one very obvious thickening technique I have not yet mentioned. I decided that in order for me to achieve the velvety texture I sought after I would need to blend a bit of the soup. Prior to placing the eggs into the soup, I took my stick blender and whizzed it around the soup a few times to break up some of the rice grains. This created a beautiful texture.

When I made this soup this weekend for the 20th time, I served it up with my ridiculously simple and Seriously Crispy No Knead Bread. It was the perfect vehicle to mop up the soup at the very end.

I garnished the soup with some more fresh lemon zest and just a few sprigs of dill to Greek it up a bit more 🙂 The result was lunch perfection that the hubs, munchkin and I killed in just a few days.

Avgolemono Soup...Greek Chicken Soup with Lemon

Avgolemono soup is the classic Greek chicken penicillin. It is a heavenly, velvety soup with a savory chicken broth, tart lemons and egg yolks. The combination creates a smooth and comforting soup perfect for a new twist on the classic chicken soup.

Notes

1.If reheating the soup, it will get thicker. This is normal. Feel free to add a bit more chicken stock when reheating to thin out the soup a bit.2. I really preferred the soup without chicken pieces in it. I found the soup to be more appealing in texture. However, feel free to add it in as the recipe states if you like the added protein. The chicken can also be shredded at the end as a garnish.

3. The nutritional information should be used for informational purposes only.

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What People are Saying:

Absolutely can’t wait to make this soup. We’re going to have up to 10 inches of snow here and this will be a great warm- up after digging out my car! Thank you.

2018-02-20T18:53:58-05:00

Absolutely can’t wait to make this soup. We’re going to have up to 10 inches of snow here and this will be a great warm- up after digging out my car! Thank you.

https://girlandthekitchen.com/testimonials/11162/

This recipe was delicious and “do-able” even on a work nite! It was “fall off the bone” good. I do think I ended up with too much juice simply because I was afraid I’d burn them if I didn’t add just a little more vino. Thanks so much!

2018-02-20T18:54:08-05:00

This recipe was delicious and “do-able” even on a work nite! It was “fall off the bone” good. I do think I ended up with too much juice simply because I was afraid I’d burn them if I didn’t add just a little more vino. Thanks so much!

https://girlandthekitchen.com/testimonials/11163/

Mila, you’re a genius. This recipe couldn’t be anymore straight forward and simple with an outstanding finished product. Seriously, a child with a little supervision could make this.

2018-02-20T18:54:18-05:00

Mila, you’re a genius. This recipe couldn’t be anymore straight forward and simple with an outstanding finished product. Seriously, a child with a little supervision could make this.

https://girlandthekitchen.com/testimonials/11165/

This Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup was FANTASTIC! The broth is so flavorful and fresh tasting. Although the soup is lighter, it is still filling and super comforting. This will be added to my rotation for sure!

2018-02-20T18:53:44-05:00

This Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup was FANTASTIC! The broth is so flavorful and fresh tasting. Although the soup is lighter, it is still filling and super comforting. This will be added to my rotation for sure!

OMG you really are amazing! I may have homemade broths but it is a rarity that I have homemade stock! Seriously incredible! And just an fyi… I had a fellow Greek make this soup and they themselves were pretty impressed 🙂 Enjoy my friend!

Hi Marlene!!!! I was just thinking of you the other day 🙂 I saw that you posted something and noticed that you were residing in La Jolla! I was just there in November! Had I known! Ahhh! Nonetheless it was my favorite place in SD!!! Good to know I have fellow blogger friends everywhere 🙂 As for the soup…it’s pure love! And it will be heaven with this stock!

Hi Rachael, I would do it for 10 minutes on high with natural or quick release. HOWEVER, make sure to add the eggs in AFTER you open the lid. I have never tried it in the IP but based on all the soups I made in there, this seems like it would work in that amount of time.

Hi Mila,
I found your recipe while looking for a lemon chicken soup with rice cooked in an instant pot and found yours! I’m new to the IP and am going to try yours and just finished chopping all the veggies. I’m using a Basamati toasted onion rice and guess I should put it in IP after sautéing the veggies? I’m using 1 cup of rice and 2, 32 oz. boxes of chicken stock and wanted to know when I should add the lemon juice. I bought a family size rotisserie chicken last night and cut it into larger chunks and don’t know if that should go in at the end as well. I hope you can answer these questions and appreciate if you could help. Sorry for all the questions but want to make sure I’m doing this right.
THANK YOU!!!

Hooray! I’ve made other avgolemonos before, and they were fine, but this one hit it out of the park. I think this is the first recipe I’ve made from this blog, but I think I’ll go look for some other ones to bookmark. Thanks!

Thanks for this wonderful recipe, will be making again and again! I think it is my favorite version as most of the other recipes seem too eggy. Love this and it is perfect for this dreary day, and morning sick momma!

Cannot possibly see how the soup turned out bland. It is simple, but if all the ingredients are of high quality the result is perfect. To me the zest is what makes this recipe special. I have come back to it again and again. 🙂

Wow did this taste,GREAT, a house full of picky eaters and what a hit. I pureed the whole then added shrimp, my 2 year old grandson oh oh too much with his bite so I added some heavy whipping cream to his yum that was the finishing touch. I repeat YUM!!

I followed everything to a tee and it turned out very bitter,this is one of my favorite soups so I was disappointed that it didn’t taste like I thought it was going to. Is there any way to use just the juice of the lemon instead of the zest and juice? I will try making it again.

[…] The main reason we’ve put this recipe in (not just because it is utterly delicious) is because of its brilliant health benefits when you are feeling under par. This heavenly velvet soup is made from a savoury chicken broth, tart lemons and egg yolks, and it’s been penned as the ‘Greek chicken’ alternative to penicillin. Yes, really. It’s that good. This is a soup with greatness and should be your go-to recipe card when you can’t shake off a cold or flu. The Girl and the Kitchen has this recipe nailed. […]

[…] home to poke around online, and made a chart, as one does, comparing recipes (here, here, here, here, and here) based on cups of broth to number of eggs to tablespoons of lemon juice to amount of […]

Hi! I’m Mila, the Girl and the Kitchen. And I believe in Good Food. Done Right. Having worked in many incredible restaurant kitchens as a chef, I know what it takes to make delicious, wholesome food with simple ingredients and bright flavors! I believe that anyone can make great-tasting food by knowing a few tricks of the trade. Come along as I teach you to prepare incredibly tasty and wholesome meals made with simple ingredients that are loaded with flavor in no time at all!